7.10.13
Oil Spill
Study urges spending on coastal restoration
by: JANET McCONNAUGHEY
Associated Press
July 9, 2013 - 3:55 PM
NEW ORLEANS — Wildlife tourism, from hunting and fishing to bird and
dolphin watching, is a $19 billion-a-year business along the Gulf of
Mexico, and states spending their settlement money from the 2010 BP oil
spill should focus on restoring ecologically sensitive areas that keep
guides, hotels and others working, a study says.
http://www.startribune.com/business/214804751.html
Report: Wildlife tourism depends on healthy Gulf
Sun Herald
By MARY PEREZ — meperez@sunherald.com
Wildlife tourism is a $19 billion industry across the five Gulf states and
a report released Tuesday said the industry depends on restoring the
coastal environment.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/07/09/4785626/report-wildlife-tourism-depends.html
The RESTORE Act, one year later
Updated: Jul 09, 2013 10:15 PM CDT
WVUE
Written by: Leigh Isaacson -
Terrebonne Parish, La. -- Some Louisiana restoration projects are
nearlyshovel-ready, but the RESTORE Act moneyisn't flowing in yet.
http://www.fox8live.com/story/22798804/one-year-with-the-restore-act
Interior's offshore drilling safety chief stepping down
The Hill
By Ben Geman - 07/09/13 12:06 PM ET
The head of the Interior Department branch that regulates offshore oil and
gas drilling safety is stepping down, the department said.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/309837-interiors-offshore-drilling-safety-chief-stepping-down
State News
Pipeline permitted without public input
Sun Herald
By KAREN NELSON — klnelson@sunherald.com
JACKSON COUNTY -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permitted Plains
Southcap to build a crude-oil pipeline from the Mobile area to the Chevron
Pascagoula Refinery without public input.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/07/09/4787018/pipeline-permitted-without-public.html
Official: Harrison County residents' recycling efforts not going to waste
Sun Herald
By LEIGHANNE LOCKHART — llockhart@sunherald.com
HARRISON COUNTY -- A Biloxi resident, suspecting recycled items are being
disposed of with the other garbage, recently submitted a tip to the Sun
Herald. But local environmental advocates can rest assured they are not,
according to Waste Pro.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/07/09/4787008/official-harrison-county-residents.html
Mississippi Gasification won't build $2 billion plant at former
International Paper site in Moss Point
Mississippi Press
April M. Havens
July 09, 2013 at 4:56 PM
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- A deal with Mississippi Gasification, a company
that wanted to bring a $2 billion plant to the former International Paper
Co. site in Moss Point, won't come to fruition, leaders said this morning
during a Port of Pascagoula commissioners meeting.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-business/2013/07/mississippi_gasification_wont.html#incart_river
Big Green Bus helps spread environmental awareness
WLOX
Visitors to the Grand Biloxi were seeing "green" on Tuesday. The Big Green
Bus is a student-run environmental project from Dartmouth College in New
Hampshire, and it visited the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
http://www.wlox.com/story/22794706/big-green-bus-helps-spread-environmental-awareness
Potential buyers find no electronics when they tour DMR boats
Sun Herald
By PAUL HAMPTON — jphampton@sunherald.com
BILOXI -- They tugged on railings, picked at cracks, went up ladders and
peered down hatches. They snapped photographs with cell phones and asked to
hear the roar of the diesel engines.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/07/09/4787015/potential-buyers-find-no-electronics.html
National News
US Coast Guard confirms natural gas leak in Gulf of Mexico
WLOX
The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed a natural gas leak in the Gulf of Mexico has
forced the evacuation of a gas production platform 74 miles southwest of
Port Fourchon, LA. According to the Coast Guard, the leak began Sunday at
Ship Shoal Block 225 platform B, which is a natural gas and crude oil
platform owned by Energy Resources Technology (ERT).
http://www.wlox.com/story/22797968/us-coast-guard-confirms-natural-gas-leak-in-gulf-of-mexico
Man dies from flesh-eating bacteria he contracted while fishing in the Gulf
of Mexico
Press Register
Dennis Pillion
July 09, 2013 at 2:05 PM
GRAND ISLE, Louisiana -- One Louisiana man has died and three others have
become ill after becoming infected by Vibrio vulnificus, a bacterium
related to the one that causes cholera.
http://blog.al.com/gulf-coast/2013/07/man_dies_from_flesh-eating_bac.html#incart_river
Vitter drops filibuster threat on EPA nominee Gina McCarthy
Washington Post
The ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
said Tuesday he would no longer block the nomination of Environmental
Protection Agency official Gina McCarthy to head that agency and would
support a vote on the Senate floor without a filibuster.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/vitter-drops-filibuster-threat-on-epa-nominee-gina-mccarthy/2013/07/09/c53d291a-e8ce-11e2-a301-ea5a8116d211_story.html
Obama's EPA Pick Clears One Hurdle
Wall Street Journal
ByKeith Johnson
President Barack Obama's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency,
Gina McCarthy, has faced a grueling road to Senate confirmation since her
nomination was announced in March, though that's more because of the agency
she's tapped to lead than any ill will towards her personally.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/07/09/obamas-epa-pick-clears-one-hurdle/
EPA nominee Gina McCarthy to miss Mexico jaunt
Washington Post
By Emily Heil
Gina McCarthy, President Obama's pick to head the EPA, has a new reason to
be irritated about having her nomination held up in the Senate: it's
causing her to miss out on what sounds like a fantastic conference in
scenic Los Cabos, Mexico.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop
Climate change's heat intensifies drought in the USA
USA Today
SPICEWOOD, Texas — In this browning patch of land in central Texas,
C.J. Teare could be fined for using fresh water to keep her
decades-old oak trees alive so she relies on soapy water left over
from washing clothes.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/09/climate-change-drought-texas/2451409/
House GOP leaders look at splitting farm bill
By MARY CLARE JALONICK — Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A month after suffering an embarrassing defeat, House
Republican leaders are considering a new strategy to try to win support for
the massive, five-year farm bill: splitting it into two separate measures,
one for farm programs and one for food stamps.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/07/09/4786456/house-gop-leaders-look-at-splitting.html
Opinion
SUN HERALD | Editorial: A pipeline full of questions
How is it that more than 40 miles of 24-inch pipe is being run from Semmes,
Ala., to the Chevron Refinery in East Jackson County with so little public
notice, at least in Mississippi?
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/07/09/4786613/sun-herald-editorial-a-pipeline.html
The 5th Circuit tries to differentiate between BP's track record and trial
lawyers': James Varney
James Varney
The Times-Picayune
July 09, 2013 at 3:46 PM
Now into the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals of this great land come the oil
behemoth BP and the trial lawyers of the Gulf South. If it please the
court, is there some way both parties could lose?
http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2013/07/the_5th_circuit_tries_to_diffe.html
Press Releases
USDA, DOD and DOI Announce Sentinel Landscapes Partnership
WASHINGTON, July 10, 2013 – TODAY, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack,
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Defense Acting Deputy Under Secretary
John Conger will host a national media conference call announcing a
federal, local and private collaboration to preserve agricultural lands,
assist with military readiness and restore and protect wildlife habitat.
Through the Sentinel Landscapes partnership, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA), U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) and Department of
Defense (DOD) will work together near military installations to help
farmers and ranchers make improvements to the land that benefit their
operation, enhance wildlife habitat, and enable DOD's training missions to
continue.
The announcement is a result of collaboration through the White House Rural
Council. The agencies will kick off this partnership through a pilot
Sentinel Landscape in the South Puget Sound region of Washington State.
Home to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, an important troop training facility,
this region has some of the last remaining native prairie habitat in the
state. The first Sentinel Landscape pilot will support the local economy,
national defense and the conservation of natural resources.
